CPU Cooling by jmke @ 2014-08-25
CRYORIG launches onto the CPU cooler market with a bang. Their R1 cooler is build to cool down the hottest of CPU out there, weighing over 1000 gram and equipped with 2x140mm fans this product means business, let's see how it does!
Today we take a look at the first stallion out of the stable from a newly founded company called CRYORIG. CRYORIG consists of a group of talented engineers who have previously work experience from the likes of Thermalright, Prolimatech and other high end CPU cooler manufacturers. These high end computer part enthusiasts send us product with impressive specs and easy name to remember: R1.
The R1 comes in two variants, the R1 Universal, which we are testing here goes for maximum compatibility, while the R1 Ultimate is slightly larger and heavier, the differences are minimal.
The Ultimate comes with two 140x25mm fans, while the Universal features a mix of 140x25mm and 140x13mm fans, this to help compatibility with the memory slots on motherboards, the second tower is also slightly less wide, hence in total the 100 gram weight difference.
Let's take a look inside the big box ->
Weighing over 1000 gram the R1 is quite a daunting product for mere CPU cooling task. Inside the box you'll find the R1 Universal heatsink with 2 fans attached, as well as a nicely organized installation gear kit.
The big 6mm heat pipes and two large arrays of cooling fins come in a fancy looking black anodized color. Fan shrouds in white color to provide nice contrast. The fans are 140mm and come with 4-pin PWM connector, the power cables are braided for easy cable management.
The fan clips hook up to a rubber insert on the fans to help reduce vibration noise. You can use the clips to attach 120mm fans, as long as they are flanged! The base is nicely polished with little room for improvement. On the last photo you can also see the mounting bracket pre-mounted to the base for easy installation.
Inside the cardboard tool box you'll find a rear bracket for AMD/Intel platform, the studs come with plastic washers pre-attached! That is quite a time savor, no chance of losing them here! The bottom compartment of the box holds additional fan clips, thermal paste (and alcohol pad to clean old paste!), installation tool and Y-cable for two 4-pin fans. Last but not least a fancy membership card with registration code for some benefits online at their site. Overall the packaging and build quality is unsurpassed, the attention to detail is ludicrous and it's not just "fancy" but also very practical and useful, hats off to the people at CRYORIG.
Installing a 1kg CPU onto a motherboard that consists of a few layers of PCB is always a challenge, the guys at CRYORIG were able to reduce the amount of installation steps, and if you have access to the back of your motherboard, no motherboard removal is required. In fact the amount of installation tools required is minimal and provided by CRYORIG in the box. The backplate is installed with the provided thumbscrew/standoffs, the metal brackets are than fixed into place with another set of thumb screws. Finally the heatsink drops into place and is secure by using the provided philipshead screwdriver. All in all installation is quick and easy, providing a solid mount for the heavy block of metal.
Despite its huge size the R1 Universal does not pose any issues fitting inside a mid-tower case onto a S775 Gigabyte motherboard, which does offer a whole lot of space around the CPU socket. The R1 clears the obstacles easily and has room to spare. The whole setup lines up nicely with the rear exhaust fan.
Our test setup is nothing too fancy, but no easily cooled platform either. A Pentium D 840 3.2Ghz socket 775 monster, this is a brute of a 90nm CPU with hyperthreading enabled power guzzler, rated at 130W TDP at stock speeds.
- Intel Pentium D 840 3.2Ghz Dual Core Stock
- Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
- 2Gb RAM
- NVIDIA 7900GT With Zalman Cooler @5v
- LANCOOL PC-K58 ATX Case with 2x120mm fans
- MS-Tech 650W ATX PSU (With 120mm fan)
We tested a total of 4 different scenarios:
- CPU @ stock speed - all case fans at 12v
- CPU @ stock speed - only rear case fan @ 5v, front fan disabled
- CPU @ 3.6Ghz - all case fans at 12v
- CPU @ 3.6Ghz - only rear case fan @ 5v, front fan disabled
The case fans we measured at ~1400rpm @ 12v and ~725rpm@5v. It's safe to say that when only the rear case fan is running at 5v, the overall PC is dead quiet.
Measuring gear included:
- iPad Mini with Thermodo sensor for ambient room temperature
- Extech dBA meter 407738 for noise reading
Noise reading was done in a separate room, a passively cooled PSU rigged to power-up without motherboard, and the Heatsink and Fan combo. The sensor was placed at 50cm from the front of the heatsink.
To generate CPU load we used Intel Burn Test v2.54 and SpeedFan to measure CPU die temp.
Onto the results ->
We start of the performance tests with the easiest configuration: CPU at stock, all case fans at full speed. For comparison purposes we've included the Intel Stock Cooler, Scythe Ashura and SilentiumPC Fera 2 :
3rd party coolers are not wasted on this platform, at stock speeds the Intel cooler is overwhelmed, maxing out at 71+°C and closing in on 50dBA which is really loud. The R1 and Ashura are tied in first spot, the extra 140mm fan on the R1 Universal does add a bit more noise, running at full speed these fans are not silent, but far from annoying, toned down through PWM management they can easily go into silent mode.
Without the extra airflow through the case, the R1 takes (a very small) lead over its closest competitor. Impressive numbers nonetheless. Time to turn up the heat:
With enough fresh air going through the case the difference in performance between the top contenders remains minimal.
Our final configuration is a good stress test for silent computing, keeping the dual core Smithfield running stable (when overclocked!) without your PC sounding like a hairdryer is quite a challenge. The R1 Universal passes the test with flying colors, of course we were not expecting anything less!
We've come to the end of our evaluation and can now pen down our findings. For a CPU cooler product to be worthy of recommendation it must pass several criteria:
- Performance: The R1 from CRYORIG makes an impressive showing here, hardly flinching at the heat generated by a dual core Prescott CPU ! Pass
- Noise: The dual fan setup rules out extreme silent computing, and at 12v the fans are definitely audible, there is however enough thermal headroom for the fans to be run at lower speeds, their PWM friendly connectors helps ensure quiet computing. Pass
- Installation / Compatability: For such a beast of a heatsink, installation is surprisingly straight forward and easy to do. Motherboard removal required if you don't have access to the backplate, otherwise installation can be done under 10min! Pass
- Pricing/Availability: CRYORIG has made an impressive showing on the availability front, on their "where to buy page" you will see that the R1 can be bought almost worldwide! Price wise the R1 Universal is without a doubt a premium product, but they do price the R1 competitively, clocking in between €60-70 where as similar products from other high end brands cost €10-15 more. Pass
If you want to have a cool looking and performing high end CPU cooler for your current/next build, look no further than the CRYORIG R1 product range:
We like to thank Andy from eTonix Media for allowing us to test CRYORIG's latest products.